Does Jackson casino project have support it needs in MS House?
Mississippi House lawmakers probably won't soon be considering a bill to provide state support for a $500 million casino project in downtown Jackson on the Pearl River.
According to several lawmakers that spoke to the Clarion Ledger Tuesday after a House Ways and Means meeting, a House caucus meeting was called to discuss House Bill 1989, which was filed into the Legislature Monday. HB 1989 would establish state aid for a $500 million casino project in Jackson.
During that meeting, the bill was thrown down due to a lack of support, Rep. Kevin Ford, R-Issaquena, Warren and Yazoo counties, said. Throwing down a bill means the bill does not have the support it needs to advance to the wider House.
Technically, House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, has until Wednesday before the House meets to pass the legislation beyond his committee, but as the group met Tuesday afternoon, he said he simply wanted to continue conversations.
"What I will say is an encouragement to the people who have requested this bill and have been willing to put their money where their mouth is so to speak and offer to invest literally somewhere around a billion dollars in the city of Jackson; don't give up," Lamar said. "We will come back, continue to go forward with it, continue to invest in our capitol city, as we appreciate the efforts and the offer but let's continue those conversations as we go forward."
HB 1989 would establish financial support from the Legislature toward the project located within 6,000 feet of the state capitol building and is owned by someone already operating a licensed casino.
The measure also would appear to go against three decades of state casino policies including a “level playing field” free market system for potential developers on top of establishing a casino in a county that does not have legal gambling.
Casino licenses are granted by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, and the state agency regulates licensed establishments in Mississippi. Projects are typically granted such bold support from lawmakers.
The bill does not say what that financial support would look like exactly, and the owner of the development is not mentioned.
Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, said that if the bill passed, it would create a crippling amount of competition for competing casinos in other areas as well, which lawmakers were not given much time to consider.
"If we are going to do something like this, I think it will take a considerable amount of more thought than to just come out with a bill this quickly," Johnson said.
Ford added that casinos on the coast and on the Mississippi River contribute a large portion of the state's employment rate, and helping to create one in Jackson could threaten jobs because of the heightened competition.
"Seven percent of our workforce is employed by the casinos, so if we had anything to have ripple effects with that, we have somewhere around 4.3% unemployment, and we could go to 8% or 9% overnight (if this project happened)," Ford said.
Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS casino project bill filed in Mississippi Legislature
